Mangaluru: Three sentenced to life imprisonment, one gets jail term in 2019 Rakesh murder case

Mangaluru: Three sentenced to life imprisonment, one gets jail term in 2019 Rakesh murder case

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, October 30, 2026: The Sixth Additional District and Sessions Court in Mangaluru has sentenced three persons to life imprisonment and awarded a jail term to a fourth accused in connection with the 2019 murder of Rakesh.

The convicts have been identified as Sunil Kumar alias Kauti, Praveen Poojary alias Chotu, Preetham alias Abhi and Rohith Kumar alias Shooter.

The murder took place on January 3, 2019, near M.V. Shetty College on the Panjimogaru-Maladi Road. According to the prosecution, Rakesh was in a relationship with the sister of the first accused, Sunil Kumar. Angered by this, Sunil, along with Praveen, Preetham and Rohith, allegedly attacked Rakesh with swords and murdered him.

Kavoor police registered a case and conducted an investigation. Police Inspector K.R. Nayak served as the investigating officer and filed the chargesheet before the court.

After a detailed trial, Judge Rajesh Maruti Kamate found all four accused guilty.

The court sentenced the first three accused — Sunil, Praveen and Preetham — to life imprisonment under Sections 302 and 120(B) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Each was also fined Rs 15,000, with an additional one-year imprisonment in case of default.

All four accused were further sentenced to three years’ imprisonment under Section 201 read with Section 34 of the IPC and fined Rs 5,000 each. Failure to pay the fine will invite an additional month’s imprisonment.

The fourth accused, Rohith Kumar, was separately sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000 under Section 212 read with Section 34 of the IPC. An additional month’s imprisonment has been prescribed in case of default.

The court ordered that out of the total fine amount of Rs 70,000 collected from the convicts, Rs 20,000 be remitted to the government and Rs 50,000 be paid to the victim’s father as compensation.

Public Prosecutor Motilal Chowdhary represented the State.